The next week and another cold Wednesday night. So we decided to head into the city and go to the Winter Night Market again. We would get dinner here and then walk around the city looking at the projections that had been set up on a few of the buildings. Then we walk along the yarra and finish with a mulled cider at the Arbory Bar.
Our first stop at the Night Market was the African BBQ again. Last time I only tried some of Miriam’s plate so this time I got my own. Then I saw the cheese stall. They had a 40 kg wheel of Grana Padano which the hot pasta was thrown into and stirred around. Melting the cheese then served straight into your bowl. It was great to watch and i got a bowl which tasted amazing.
On the weekend we were back at the Smoko campsite and this time setting up two tents. 2 mates were joining us for the weekend. So we wanted to make sure that we had found a flat campsite that would not flood if it started to rain.. They would be arriving at midday the next day to join up at the Darker Days Festival in Bright.
The Darker Days festival was a dark beer mid winter festival with live music and a hot dog eating contest. Which was fun to see as I have been watching competitive eaters and food challenges on youtube. So I thought that a lot of hotdogs would be eaten in the time limit. But no, this was just a fun competition. The winner ended up eating about 5. With the others only finishing around 2. And that surprised me a lot. I’m not sure if it was a 5 or 10 minute time limit but I thought that I could do more than that. And they were just the hot dog and bun. No extras in there. But it was fun for all. The contestants seemed to be having a great time and we were enjoying watching it. While they were eating, Nicky Bomba was playing in the background and he was the only musician that we knew in the list that were playing. It was fun to watch him again playing with his own band. In the past i have seen him conducting the Melbourne Ska Orchestra.
The whole point of the festival was to get people together in winter to catch up around the bonfires and drink a lot of dark beers. And that’s what I did. Miriam would be driving my truck for the night and I could go out and sample as many as possible.
There were lots of stalls with around 6 options each. They also had cocktails, whisky, and non alcoholic drinks.
My favourite beer of the night was the One Drop, Toasted Marshmallow Caramel Pecan Mudcake Stout. Which was on tap at the start and I loved it. It tasted just like its name. A very thick beer that was more like drinking a dessert with an alcoholic kick. I went back a few times during the night but this was only a small stall with limited taps. So they would change their beers around once a keg ran out. And they kept on telling me that it would be the next one to come back but by the time we left it still hadn’t.
Back in Melbourne I have looked around a few of the bottle shops to try and find it. Some said that they had it in stock but their stock count was out when I visited them. So I am still looking around and hoping to try it again.
The next morning at camp we were lucky that the forecast rain was not too bad. The tents were wet but we could make our coffee and cook up pancakes on the back of the car without getting soaked. I loaded up the snow report and there was still snow up at Mount Buffalo. So we decided to head back up there. As you need snow chains in the car. We left one car down the bottom of the hill and took my truck up top.
On the drive up the waterfalls were flowing and looking great but there was no sign of any snow. Until we got to the top. Then we started to see small patches on the ground and turning a corner the whole place was covered. Last weekend there had only been ice on the trees and this time there was snow all around.
Driving out towards the Horn. We were ahead of the snow plough and the road was covered in deep snow. The track out to the shelter and the horn where we drove last time was now closed for the winter. And you could only access it on foot. Which we did not have time for today. So we parked the car at Cresta Valley which was at the end of the road and looked around there. This is the start of the snowshoe and xc skiing trails when there is more snow. And a popular area for tobogganing,
Cold weather and a week of snow really changed the landscape out here. Sadly it did not stay around. I have been watching the snow reports up there and it will be lovely for a few days and then disappear completely again. All the resorts seem to be like this. What looked like a nice season then all melts away. I hope there will be enough snow for my week-long XC skiing trip in August.
After the snow plough had cleared the road and car park around my car. We jumped back in and drove to the chalet. This week there were a lot less people up here even though there was lots of snow around making the place look wonderful.
Miriam was excited as always to be in the snow. It’s her happy place. She always loves seeing it, playing in it and camping in it. But always complains that it’s cold and wet and she seems to forget it each time. At least we have all the right gear to make our time out here warm and enjoyable.
Back home in Melbourne I was house sitting for the week and I got to spend the week with my cat. She was so happy that i was home all day to look after her, feed her and move her chair so it stays in the sun. She is a very fluffy and lazy cat. Always just wanting to sleep in the warmth and not be disturbed.
We had a few really cold mornings and she was being a sook. I am usually up with a coffee by around 7am and she raced down the hall and jumped on my lap. Crying and snuggling in. Trying to get as much warmth from me as possible. She complained a lot when I went to move at 9am to get another hot drink and some food. Jumping back on me as soon as I sat down.
On the coldest day she did not leave my lap all day long. She was not even interested in her own food. At least I had my laptop with some work to do and lots of shows to watch. As I was stuck and couldn’t upset her.
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